New Kids
by scribblesnovella
Summary: With hopes that a better education will equal a better life for her grandchildren, Granny Smith sends her three little Apple's off to a big school, in a big city. Mac/Shy, AJ/Dash. HUMAN PONIES.
1. Chapter 1

New Kids

"I don't want to do this." Applejack muttered, arms crossed firmly over her chest. Fitted in tight, jean shorts and an even tighter tank top, she looked pretty - in a simple, country girl sort of way. Her thick braid hung over her shoulder, the tip held in her right hand. If one were to pay close enough attention, they'd notice the way her fingers ground into it. It wasn't that AJ didn't _want_ to do this; it was that she was a little bit _afraid_ to do this. Not that she'd ever admit it. 

Beside her, her brother shifted. To him, she would never _have_ to admit it, because he just knew. He cocked his head to side, almost lazily, listening to the whispers behind them. His own blond hair fell into his face, but he didn't bother to push it back. 

Big Mac - or Mac, as her family called him - was wearing faded blue jeans and a white top with a plaid sweatshirt tossed on over it. Loose and un-tucked from his pants, he imagined he _did_ look like a - as the snobbish girl across from him said - country bumpkin. He didn't particularly care though. Half lidded green eyes slid to his younger sister and slowly, he raised an eyebrow. "Don't got much of a choice now do we?" He rumbled in a deep voice. 

He looked closer to twenty three than seventeen, but no. He was still a high school boy, and despite his "slow" appearance, a pretty damned smart one too. 

"I can't believe they're making us do this." Their youngest sister, Apple Bloom, chirped from behind them. Carelessly, she reared onto her knees, leaning over the back of their seat and in between them. Her bow was beginning to flop as it always did after she started playing with it. It was a familiar sight, one that soothed AJ's frayed nerves. 

Crimson bangs tickled at Mac's shoulder. "S'not fair. We was doin' real well right where we was." 

"Were." AJ corrected automatically, grimacing at how much she sounded like Granny Smith. "We _were_ doing really _good_ where we _were_." She added in a mutter, cheeks flushing hotly as the same snobbish girl who called Mac a country bumpkin twisted to sneer at the sibling trio. 

Eleven year old Apple Bloom dug her fingers into the collar of her hand-me-down dress. AJ had always been fond of that dress, but at sixteen, her body had filled out too much to fit into it. That was the dress Granny Smith had made her for _her_ eleventh birthday. It was red gingham, the bow around her waist matching the one in Bloom's hair. 

They were going to a new school. It wasn't the new school that bothered them. It was the fact that _this_ school wasn't in their dinky bit of a ghost town - the town that only survived thanks to _their_ apple orchard. No, it was an hour and a half bus ride away in a larger town. A town that they considered a city.  
>Granny Smith said they used to sell their apples there, when AJ and Mac were just babes. But this town had big grocery stores that sold hundreds of different types of apples. They had no use for the Apple Family's Apple's any longer. <p>

Granny Smith said they'd get a better education here, like the kids from the next town over. AJ shot the snobbish girl a dirty look. _She_ was from the next town over, where they had two clothing factories, an orchard and a big, big bakery. The kids from there were better off. 

Still, Granny had asked them to go, and go they would, even if - like so many other young folk from their area - they had no intention of continuing school past grade twelve. They all had little family businesses that scraped them by, that they knew inside and out. 

As they passed the city line, Bloom gasped and pushed her face against the window. "Wow, AJ, do you see that?" 

Under his breath, Mac chuckled. It was fifteen more minutes before the school bus pulled up. There were two separate buildings - one from kindergarten to grade eight, where Bloom would be going, and the other from grade nine to twelve. Where AJ and Mac would be going. 

It was the first time they'd ever been separated and, excitement gone, the color drained from Bloom's face. 

"We'll have lunch together." AJ said, swallowing her own worry. She had to be strong. Not for herself and not for Mac because lord knows her brother was strong enough for _all_ of them, but for her sister; her sister who looked up to her, who thought of her as a hero. "I promise." She added hastily, before the girl could ask. 

They waited until the bus was fully unloaded before Mac stood. He excited, hunched over a bit so his head didn't hit the ceiling. AJ and Bloom followed, albeit at a slower pace. Neither wanted to leave the safety of the bus, to have to face what would be their _new school_, so far away from home in case anything went wrong, in case Granny Smith needed them. 

Standing in front of his sisters protectively, acting as a shield to the gawking faces of the other students, Mac pulled Bloom into a light hug. She burrowed her face against her brother's midsection and softly, he murmured that it'd all be okay. Reluctantly, he let his youngest sister go, watching as she dragged herself to the smaller school on the left. 

Taking a deep breath and steeling himself for the taunts that he was sure were to come, he nodded at AJ. "You ready then?" 

Glancing around and repeating her mantra of _gotta be strong_ she blond nodded. Yeah, she was ready. Bring it on. 

ZZZ 

Not a single person had talked to her since they had entered the school, and she was pretty okay with that. If they just ignored her, she could go about her day, get good grades, and focus on getting home to her Granny and her apples. 

They all seemed more occupied with whispering about someone named _Rainbow Dash_ who appeared to be rather infamous. AJ didn't know the person, obviously, but what she gathered was that Rainbow Dash was a force to be reckoned with. Someone you scuttled by in the halls. 

Apparently Rainbow Dash had been off sick, and was now back. _Great. Just Great_. AJ thought.  
>If one were to encounter Rainbow Dash, they should bow their head, keep silent, and turn in the opposite direction. Or so she'd heard, anyway. Maybe this Rainbow Dash fellow wasn't someone AJ needed to worry about. These girls all seemed afraid of their own shadows. Not to mention the <em>gasp<em> spider that had been in her English classroom. 

Although...some of the boys did seem a bit frightened of the scary Rainbow Dash. _Oh well,_ she thought, _It's not like I can't handle my own. Plus no one'd be dumb enough to start anything with Big Mac around.  
><em>She had seen the way the hallways parted and cleared out when her insanely huge - _yet oh so gentle_ - brother passed through. No. No one would be dumb enough to bug her around Big Mac. That and she had grown up as a working girl. AJ was certain she could hold her own. She was done thinking about it. 

Slamming her locker with a thud, AJ hoisted her backpack over her shoulder and turned towards where she remembered the front doors being. 

"Hi! You're new here! I've never seen you yet, so that means you're new because I know _everybody_ and I mean _everybody_" The girl chirped. She was shorter than AJ, but standing on the tips of her toes so they were pretty even. "My names Pinkie Pie, what's yours? I like your eyes they're _puuuuuuuuuuurdy_." She was tilting her head to the side, so far so that AJ thought it might end up being upside down. Vaguely, she was reminded of the old barn owl that had taken roost in one of their apple trees. 

"AJ?" 

"Hey Mac." She said without thinking, mind still working over time in an attempt to process what the girl - Pinkie Pie - was saying. "This is Pinkie." She added, hoping that another new face would distract the girl. 

It didn't. 

"So you wanna have lunch with us? Huh? Huh? Huh? Do ya?" 

"Us?" AJ asked wearily, stepping backwards into Mac's space. He settled a hand over the curve of her shoulder, and she could feel him shaking with silent laughter. His stoic mask never left his face. 

"Yeah, us, silly! The giiiirls." She dragged the word out, eyes widening with each passing _i_. 

"Uuh. What girls?" 

"My girls!" Pinkie laughed, grabbing AJ's hand. The blond nearly flinched, not used to anyone aside from Bloom touching her. 

"I promised my sister I'd eat lunch with her. She's a grade six." AJ hoped that the mentions of younger folk - _so_ uncool - would deter Pinkie Pie. 

It didn't. 

"Oh that's fine! That's great, actually! The more the merrier, and Sweetie Belle will have someone to talk to then." Pinkie gushed, tugging insistently on AJ's hand. 

Unable to help it, AJ laughed and nodded. "All right, s'long as you don't mind this eye sore tagging along." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder, pointing at her brother. In retaliation, he swatted her in the back of the head. 

She growled and gave him a glare but he shoved at her shoulder, pushing her closer to Pinkie. 

"Oh don't worry, I'm sure no one will mind. Well, come on then silly! We only have fifty minutes for lunch, don't want to waste it by not eating!" 

Shrugging, AJ followed the girl outside. 

It was a five minute walk around the school to the back, where a small group of girls had gathered. The picnic table they sat at was atop a little hill that over looked the track shared by both schools. 

"AJ!" 

"C'mon over Bloom!" She hollered at her sister, grinning as the girl broke into a dead run. Bloom attached to her sisters free arm, eyeing Pinkie's hand cautiously. The nails were painted cotton candy pink, yellow and blue balloon stickers on each one. "Who -" 

"Pinkie Pie! I have math with AJ and I thought I'd say hi cause it didn't seem like she had any friends and _everyone_ deserves to have friends and oh - Hi everyone this is Applejack, Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom!" 

How in the _heck_ Pinkie Pie knew all their names, AJ didn't know. And she would never find out, either. 

The three other girls waved, the one with light pink hair shrinking down against the dark, dark, purple haired girls side. 

"Pink hair is Fluttershy, dark hair is Rarity, and last but not least, Twilight Sparkle." Pinkie introduced. She seemed almost...calmer?...around the other girls, as if they presented enough of a distraction that her mind had to actually _slow_ _down_ for a change. 

Smiling awkwardly, AJ waved. Mac simply sat at the end of the table and pulled out his home packed lunched. Ham sandwich, slice of apple pie, a - _haha granny, so punny_, he muttered - big macintosh apple, and a slice of brownie. AJ and Bloom knew they had the same thing. 

"Oh, oh, _oh_!" Pinkie jumped on the table, one hand flying to Mac's head to keep her standing. "_Go Dashie! Go!" _She screamed at the top of her lungs, ignoring how Rarity smacked her leg with a textbook when she nearly trampled her delicate looking salad. 

"_Pinkie_." Twilight sighed, exasperated. She gave AJ a sympathetic look. "Sit down and stop climbing on everything." 

"Awwh, Twilight. You're no fun." She whined, dropping to sit where she had been standing. Mac pulled his apple pie a little closer in fear of it being crushed and becoming inedible. 

"Who's Dashie?" AJ asked, thinking that perhaps with Pinkie Pie, no question was a stupid question. 

"She's on the track, she's my bestest best friend in the whole wide world." Pinkie said, eyes never leaving the running girl. 

"Oh." 

"Mhm! Do you like sports or anything?" 

AJ shrugged "Usually I don't have time for that sorta stuff." 

"Why not?" Rarity asked, forkful of lettuce halfway to her mouth. She was staring at the slice of apple pie hungrily. 

"Usually workin'. Our family runs an apple orchard, always stuff to do." She explained. 

"Rarity?" The voice was sweet and innocent, so AJ turned to stare at the new comer. Her skin was pale, as if she'd never spent a day in the sun and her hair...it hung in gentle, whispy curls around her face, streaked the softest looking pink and purple. "You don't mind?" She asked, eyeing the Apple siblings as she held up her own lunch box. 

"No, come on Sweetie Belle, sit down." Rarity patted the spot beside her and Fluttershy, who hadn't yet spoken, shifted over to make room. "This is AJ, her brother Big Macintosh, and Apple Bloom." 

"You can call me Bloom, and him Mac, we don't mind." Bloom was putting on her fiercest face, not wanting to seem weak in front of another student. 

Sweetie merely smiled at her. "Hi. I'm Sweetie Belle, Rarity's little sister. It's great to meet you!" She thrust a hand across the table, which Bloom took, keenly aware of the muck under her own nails when they were compared to Sweetie's gorgeous french manicure. 

"Oh, ah...Hi?" 

"The hell's this?" 

Growing dizzy from all the new people and spinning, AJ turned once more. She came face to face with a pair of breasts and tilted her head back to stare up at the person who _owned_ said breasts. 

Loose shorts, baggy t-shirt, worn out sneakers and hands on her hips. Her hair fell straight around her lightly tanned face, a rainbow of colors visible. Around her neck hung a pendant. A storm cloud with a rainbow streaked lightning bolt coming out of it. Pierced ears, pierced nose, pierced eyebrow, AJ knew who this had to be. 

Pinkie Pie's cheer confirmed it. 

"_Rainbow!_" 

This was the one she'd heard whispered about in the school hallways all day. 

This was Rainbow Dash.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Gosh _darn it!_" AJ snarled, kicking violently at the broken bag of fertilizer at her feet. She had been hauling the sacks out to field and _this_ one in particular had decided that giving her the slip was the best idea in the freakin' _world_. Tears of anger stung at her eyes, and she pushed them bag, bending to pick up what was left of the bag.

"Y'okay?" Mac murmured, deep, rumbling voice startling her. For someone so large, he could move a quiet as a field mouse when he wanted to. He crouched beside the broken bag, yet didn't make any move to help her. It was a good thing they knew each other so well. AJ really didn't want help, it would rub her entirely the wrong way.

"Yeah. No. Maybe. I dunno." She sighed, blowing a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. "I will be, once I get this darned horse crap out to the field."

"No time now, AJ, we gotta get changed and get ready for the bus." Mac reminded gently. He stood slowly, taking the bag from her dirty hands. "You go wash up, I got this for now." She glared at him and he merely smirked. "Go on. Get now. You need a shower, you're filthy."

As she rushed through the house and upstairs to her bathroom, she realized Mac _really _should have called her in sooner. She only had fifteen minutes to shower, dry off, and get changed. _Darn it_, she swore again, mentally, _I ain't gonna be able to dry my darned hair in time. Darn darn darn!_

Clothes strewn across her bedroom floor, AJ hopped under the hot rush of water, bowing her head to watch the grime slide down the drain. Going to school with wet hair wasn't nearly as bad as going to school dirty. And if there was one thing she didn't want to do, it was add _dirt bag_ to the list of names the richer kids had begun to call the Apple trio.

Fighting back tears for the second time that day, AJ silently closed her eyes. It felt like a lifetime, yet today was only her second day at the new school. Somehow, she just knew it would be worse than the first.

ZZZ

"So AJ, how was day two?" AJ was surprised to see Pinkie standing at her locker when class let out for lunch. A part of her hidden deep inside was secretly grateful for the energetic, insanely friendly pink haired girl. It was nice to see a friendly, if not familiar face.

"Ah, not the best..."

"No?" Pinkie's brow furrowed in confusion, as if she were unable to grasp the concept of a bad day. "Oh! I know! You can tell us girls and Mac all about it at lunch! And then we can make you feel better! Maybe we'll have a 'Be Happy AJ Lunch Party' in your honor! That'll have to be tomorrow though, because I'll need to make a cake and," She gasped, "Muffins!" Pinkie had her arm firmly locked with AJ's as they strutted through the school and out back to the picnic table.

"Uuh, Pinkie, I don't know if I need a par-"

"Hey girls, AJ's had a rough day, so we're going to make it better. Okay?"

Mac raised an eyebrow, amused, but said nothing. Rainbow leaned forward, curious, and the others gave AJ sympathetic looks.

"I used to be the new girl, too. I only moved here a year ago, from an even bigger city than this. I had to leave my best friend Spike behind." Twilight said quietly, poking at her salad. "I really didn't know anybody around here, and...well, no one was very nice to me. Pinkie ended up dragging me over to this group of people, and I ended up fitting in. It'll get better." She paused, before adding, "Eventually."

AJ sat across from Twilight, curious now. "How did y'all meet anyway?"

"Fluttershy and I went to the same grade school, we've known each other for as long as we can remember." Rainbow said thoughtfully. "We met Pinkie Pie in grade six."

"Dashie saved me from some mean bullies who wanted to beat me up and steal my stuff!" Pinkie cried, hopping up onto the table. She sat at the end of it, so she could see everyone. "I didn't know what to do, and all of a sudden, Dashie was there. She was like my knight in shining track shorts!"

"And I'd known Pinkie for a while as well, we were in a few of the same classes. When my group of friends turned out to be...lying, coniving backstabbers...Well, Rainbow was the one who told me what they'd been saying in the girls locker room. So I started hanging out with these three around the same time Twilight joined the group."

"And we've been a happy family ever since." Fluttershy finished. AJ was startled by the soft, sweet voice, and she could see Mac's head jerk up from the corner of her eye.

"So what happened to make your day so bad? Do I need to kick some ass?" Rainbow asked, leaning across the table. Her eyes were bright with rage and excitement, and AJ wondered if the girl was just _looking_ for a fight.

"I can handle my own, if I gotta." AJ replied shortly. She heard Bloom snort. "It's not that big a deal. Just little comments about _hicks_ and _rednecks_. You know." She shrugged, not really knowing what else to add. Saying it out loud made it seem like it wasn't a big deal at all. She felt foolish for getting so worked up over such a small thing. Words. They really couldn't -

She wasn't expecting the burst of outrage from everyone at the table, aside from her siblings. Even Fluttershy was muttering angilly. She watched, astonished, as all at once they began to speak. She caught bits of their sentences, how upset they were for her, how _rude_ some people could be. Sweetie Belle threw in a few angry, "I hate people!"s as well, her older sister nodding in agreement.

Suddenly, AJ laughed. She was bent in the middle, clutching desperately at her stomach. When the laughter began to subside, she realized there was silence all around her. Cautiously, she looked up.

"The heck was that about silly willy?" Pinkie was grinning as well, on the verge of laughter herself. Pinkie was always up for a good laugh, even if she didn't know what the heck they were laughing about.

"Y-you guys. Gettin' so angry over nothin'."

"But you were the one who was sad!" Pinkie protested, leaning forward to steal an apple slice. "Silly head, we were only upset because you looked so upset!" AJ must have looked confused, because Pinkie stopped eating long enough to continue. "That's what best friends are for! Friends will pat you on the shoulder, but best friends will offer to kill someone and help hide the body!"

Rainbow clapped a hand over her oldest friends shoulder, grinning widely. "Oh Pinkie, you're _so_ random!"

It caused a bout of laughter amongst the original group and, even though she didn't know why, AJ laughed as well. She left lunch that day feeling limitless. It helped too, that Rainbow walked her to class.

AJ hated accepting other people's help but...what the hay. That's what friends were for, right? A little voice in her head, one that sounded irritatingly familiar whispered _best friends_. Smiling, AJ nodded. Yeah. Best friends. That sounded good.

She'd never had one of them before.

ZZZ

"Sorry I didn't notice you were in my class yesterday." Bloom said to Belle, walking side by side with the slightly shorter girl. They had just left lunch with their Older Sisters and Co - as they had begun to call the 'group' - and were on their way back to their own school.

"No worries. It can't be easy being the new kid. You had your head down half the day!" Belle exclaimed, flashing Bloom a charming grin. "I asked the teacher though, and she said you could sit beside me if we promise not to talk through class."

"That's what notes are for!" Bloom added, snickering to herself. Her arms began to flail wildly, and she felt the world spinning around her. She closed her eyes, trying to prepare herself for hitting the cement face first, when two hands caught her 'round the shoulders. "Wha?"

"Sorry about that, I was just -"

"Scootaloo!" Their teacher, Mrs Cheerilee hollered from the back steps. She looks disapointed, although not angry. "What have I told you about leaving your skateboard lying around?"

"I was just -"

"No!" Mrs Cheerilee bounced over to grab the board from the ground. "I'm taking this for the rest of the day, and I don't want to see it back here for the rest of the week! Am I understood?" The three preteens could see that being mean was nearly physically painful for their favorite teacher.

Scootaloo nodded, yet said nothing.

"Good. Now you can come to my office and get this back at the end of the day. Go to class, all three of you."

As she walked away, they could hear her mumbling about how badly someone could have been hurt.

Bloom took a deep breath, raising her eyes to Scootaloo. The girl was tall, awkwardly so, with a mop of wild hair sitting atop her head. Everything about her screamed _reject_. Apple Bloom bet that Scoot was probably amazingly nice. "Sorry about that, shoulda been watching where I was going."

Scowling and scoffing as if it were no big deal, Scootaloo tossed her hair. "Whatever." She shrugged and walked away, shoulders hunched up as high as they would go.

"What's her deal?" Bloom asked her new friend.

"No idea. She's always been like that. I wouldn't bother with her."

As they finally arrived at their class, Bloom watched Scootaloo take the seat in the very back left. "But she looks lonely." She said quietly, brow furrowed in concern.

"Like I said, she's always been like that."

_Well_, Apple Bloom decided, _I'm just gonna have to change that_. After all, if AJ could make friends, she could too.


End file.
